Token

Token December post, and token "Last Post of 2011".  Sorry about that.  :-)

I've slacked on setting goals for 2012 and I'm finding it hard to imagine what our lives will be like one year from tonight.  Ideally, B and C will have been in Pre-K for a few months, and I have no clue how that will feel.  As for the rest?

Since I can't post without mentioning knitting, I will admit that I've been in a Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi knitting frenzy the last few days - ever since my yarn arrived from Knit Picks.  So far I've knit the following:  tiny snowmen, tiny Santa, tiny elephant, tiny chicken, tiny reindeer, and I'm in the middle of a tiny lion.  These are so much fun!  The tiny knitting is a bit fiddly, but the results are so cute it's almost unbearable.

Tiny Elephant will STOMP on mouse!

All the best to you in 2012; may it be a joyful and rewarding year for all of us.

What You Need to Hear

The girls handed me a book from the bookshelf today; it was one of my books, not one of theirs.

The Book:  Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting.

What I needed to hear:  "If you are currently in the grip of startitis, look for emotional needs that you might be meeting by casting on new projects, then congratulate yourself for managing to come up with such an interesting way to balance your life."

Yep.  Startitis.  And other things I should be dealing with, but am procrastinating on.

Happy Pie-for-Breakfast!  (i.e., Thanksgiving weekend)

Obligatory September Post

Well, damn.  I guess I missed August. 

Oh well.

September was busy and I can't believe it's already over.  It was "International Month" here:  Visits from (Suzy, Kim, and Max - all the way from Australia) and (Kay and Jen - from Canada) brought much fun and joy.  The visits also reminded me how much I miss *all* of them.  They also taught me more about how much bigger and more flexible the girls are getting! 

One of the definite highlights of Kay & Jen's visit was going to the beach, where the girls finally decided that the waves looked much more fun than scary and actually played in the water!  This makes me very happy, because it was kind of sad to go to the beach earlier in the year and not be able to really enjoy the waves.  We went to Natural Bridges State Park for a pretty much perfect day:

I've been knitting quite a lot.  Dishcloths, a Clapotis, and I started a gift baby sweater that I'll probably work on some more this evening.  It's a bottom-up raglan, knit in pieces, which is a very different construction than the sweaters I've done for the girls thus far.

Anyway.  I'll sign off here.

File Under...

...Things I Do. Not. Miss.

Laundering a LARGE load of diapers every other night.

There are things about potty training that have not been completely full of joy and delight, and there is definitely still a laundry factor, but I realized recently how nice it was to not have a clothes basket full of diapers to fold, stuff, and put away every other morning.  We still do an occasional load, because C prefers to wear a FuzziBunz diaper at night, but going from 20ish per day to 1 per day?  Just, wow.  :-)

Stroller usage is definitely down as well.  If I had a garage, I might even consider taking the thing out of my trunk.

Titular Changes

Finally!

I had enough of an inspiration to give this blog an actual title.  Yay!

Compliments of Merriam-Webster Online:

abecedarian (n):  one learning the rudiments of something (as the alphabet)

This word cropped up in one of our "A Word a Day" calendars nearly a decade ago.  Tonight, for some reason, was the night I finally made the connection between it, and another (kinda major) piece of my life.

I am A.  The incredibly wonderful man who is my husband is D*.  When the girls surprised us by arriving a bit ahead of schedule, C's name was already determined.  However, we still needed another girl's name.  When we realized that we already had A, C, and D as first initials, it seemed clear that we should focus on names beginning with the letter B.  This may be the only reason we were able to decide on a name before leaving the hospital!


I also love the idea of an abecedarian being someone who is still learning, because that's something I truly enjoy and value.

*I know, I know.  Technically, D could or should also be considered an A, but he's gone by D his entire life.  And it works out so much better this way for my title.  :-)

The Berry Pickers

A really fun morning at Webb Ranch in Portola Valley on Friday.  Many berries were picked, and just as many were consumed, as you can see by the empty basket C is holding.  The girls had a great time, which made me happy that we'd made the effort to go.  What made me even happier was the taste of sun-warmed blackberries and boysenberries straight off the vines.  Definitely a win on the happiness-per-effort-expended basis!

I have so many good memories of picking berries as a kid.  Raspberries and boysenberries at Grandma's house.  Blackberries *everywhere*.  Huckleberries up at the cabin.  Blueberries and gooseberries in our backyard.  Two days later, I'm still enjoying that the girls had fun doing something I loved as a kid.

Second Sweater Syndrome

I found dresses I liked for the girls' 3-year portraits, got home with them, and discovered that the blue yarn I'd gotten on sale at Tuesday Morning this spring would be perfect for little lacy shrug sweaters to go over the dresses.  I cruised Ravelry and found a pattern I liked, which was even in stock at my local yarn store.  I took a little time to swatch for gauge and check for shrinkage by washing the swatch, but once I cast on, I blew through the first sweater.  The second, not so much.

Many knitters talk about "second sock syndrome" where the second sock of a pair lingers on the needles or never gets finished.  I have second sweater syndrome.

I am plugging away, a few rows per night.  Having the deadline of wanting to get the portraits done soon is helping keep me focused.  Barely.  Pictures when (no, really, when) I finish.